BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1062
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 27, 2006
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
SB 1062 (Bowen) - As Amended: June 13, 2006
SUMMARY : Makes victims of sexual assault eligible for
participation in the California
Confidential Address Program (CalCAP) also known as the "Safe at
Home Project" for victims of domestic violence and stalking.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Extends CalCAP also known as the "Safe at Home Project"
eligibility to victims of sexual assault, in addition to
victims of domestic violence and stalking.
2)Defines "sexual assault" as assault with intent to commit a
specified sex offense, rape, unlawful sexual intercourse,
spousal rape, rape in concert, aggravated sexual assault of a
child, incest, sodomy as specified, oral copulation as
specified, child molestation, continuous sexual abuse of a
child, forcible sexual penetration and annoying a child under
the age of 18.
3)Requires any agency that receives funding from both the
Maternal and Child Health Branch (MCHB), administered by the
Department of Health Services (DHS), and the Comprehensive
Statewide Domestic Violence Program (CSDVP), administered by
the Office of Emergency Services (OES), to coordinate site
visits and share performance assessment data with the goal of
improving efficiency, eliminating duplication, and reducing
administrative costs.
4)Extends until January 1, 2010 provisions of law that establish
an advisory council to consult with DHS on funding priorities
on issues relating to battered women's services and programs,
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates, until January 1, 2008, CalCAP to keep the residential
addresses of victims of domestic violence and stalking
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confidential since the disclosure of those addresses could
place victims at risk of future violence or stalking.
Participants in CalCAP designate the Office of the Secretary
of State as the agent for service of process and mail receipt,
thereby reducing the possibility that the residential address
will be divulged in otherwise accessible public records.
(Government Code Section 6205 et seq.)
2)Establishes, within OES, the CSDVP to provide financial and
technical assistance to domestic violence shelters. (Penal
Code Section 13823.15.)
3)Establishes, within DHS, the MCHB to administer a
comprehensive grant program for domestic violence shelters.
(Health & Safety Code Section 124250.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "OES administers
the CSDVP that provides assistance to domestic violence
shelters. DHS also administers a comprehensive grant program
to battered women's shelters.
"The Health and Safety Code directs DHS to coordinate agency
site visits and to share performance assessment data with the
Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP) to improve
efficiency, eliminate duplication, and reduce administrative
costs for shelters that receive funding from both agencies.
There is no corresponding requirement for OES in the Penal
Code. In addition, OCJP was abolished in 2003 and its
functions were transferred to the OES; the statutory reference
to OCJP is outdated.
"California's Confidential Address Program offers a
mail-forwarding service to domestic violence and stalking
victims. Currently, sexual assault survivors are not allowed
to participate in the program.
2)Extending the Confidential Address Program to Victims of
Sexual Assault : SB 489 (Alpert), Chapter 1005, Statutes of
1998, created CalCAP to protect victims of domestic violence
from the disclosure of address information. Victims of
stalking were added in 2000 pursuant to AB 1318 (Alpert),
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Chapter 562, Statutes of 2000. CalCAP allows a documented
victim of domestic violence and stalking to use an alternate
address maintained by the Secretary of State's Office (SOS)
for his or her mailing address and for any public record
disclosures, allowing a CalCAP participant to keep his or her
residential address and, therefore, his or her physical
location confidential. The SOS then forwards mail to the
victim's actual address.
When public agencies are required to respond to a request for
public records, the information disclosed will contain only
the SOS-maintained address and not the victim's actual
physical location. The SOS is prohibited from disclosing any
address for the participant, other than the designated program
address, unless requested by a law enforcement agency,
directed to do so by a court order, or if certification for
participation in CalCAP has been canceled.
3)Coordinating CSDVP Oversight : In addition to permitting
sexual assault victims to participate in CalCAP, this bill
also seeks to achieve greater efficiency in programs that
provide assistance to shelter-based domestic violence
programs. Under existing law, two separate programs provide
financial and technical assistance to domestic violence
shelters: MCHB within the DHS and CSDVP within the OCJP.
When either agency provides funding to a shelter, it is
required to make site visits and evaluate the shelter's
overall performance. According to the author, about 80% of
all shelters receive funding from both the MCH and the CSDVP,
requiring both agencies to visit the same shelters. According
to the author, there is "simply no reason the two agencies
cannot consolidate the visits and share assessment data."
Therefore, this bill provides that when a shelter receives
funding from both MCHB and CSDVP during any grant cycle, the
agencies shall "to the extent feasible, coordinate agency site
visits and share performance assessment data with the goal of
improving efficiency, eliminating duplication, and reducing
administrative costs."
4)California SOS : According to the SOS, ". . . By expanding the
program to include sexual assault victims, the intent of the
Safe at Home Program would be changed considerably. The
program was established to aid victims of domestic violence -
and later stalking and reproductive healthcare workers,
doctors and patients - who have an ongoing threat from their
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abusers/stalkers or anti-abortion individuals and are at risk
of future violence. Adding one-time victims of sexual assault
would mean that future legislation could potentially make all
victims of violent crime eligible for participation in Safe at
Home. The potential for future inclusion of one-time victims
of hate crimes, car jackings, kidnappings and other violent
crimes in the Safe at Home Program would change the intent of
the program to be a 'quasi-witness protection program' since
participants are allowed to make confidential name changes,
register as confidential voters, change their Social Security
numbers, and suppress Department of Motor Vehicle records - in
essence, they can create a new identity. If a victim of
sexual assault feels that he or she currently being threatened
or stalked by his or her attacker, he or she would qualify
under the 'stalking' provision in the existing program and
already be eligible for enrollment in Safe at Home.
"The current Safe at Home budget would need to be increased to
allow for additional staff to process documents and forward
mail to new participants. Also, first-year costs for printing
new brochures, posters, authorization cards, enrollment forms,
voter registration forms in the required seven languages,
additional postage to mail new packets and provide additional
training to over 280 enrolling agencies on the new category of
eligible participants would be significant. The Safe at Home
Program would also need to conduct a significant outreach and
educational program in the first year that would include pubic
service announcements training videos and materials to law
enforcement agencies, hospitals, medical providers, and the
public to inform them of the new category.
"It is estimated that the Safe at Home budget would need to be
increased by $9.8 million. I would support this bill only if
the increased funding was provided."
5)Related Legislation .
a) AB 2169 (Montanez) deletes the current sunset date of
January 1 2008, for the CalCAP program, thereby making the
program permanent. AB 2169 is pending hearing by the
Senate Judiciary Committee.
b) AB 2051 (Cohn) establishes the Equality in Prevention
and Services for Domestic Abuse Act in order to provide
culturally appropriate education and services for lesbian,
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gay, bisexual and transgender victims of domestic violence.
AB 2051 is pending hearing by the Senate Health Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Calegislation
California Alliance Against Domestic Violence
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California District Attorneys Association
California Peace Officers Association
Councilmember Donna Frye, City of San Diego
Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center Program
Los Angeles County District Attorneys Association
Marin Abused Women's Services
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Office of the Attorney General
Palomar Pomerado Health's Sexual Assault Team
San Diego Family Justice Center
San Diego Police Department
Stand! Against Domestic Violence
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744